Condiment cellar



Patented Dec. 30, 1952 CONDIMEN T CELLAR Irving Warren, Jamaica, N. Y.,assignor to U. S. Vitamin Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation ofDelaware Application July 29, 1950, Serial No. 176,557

3 Claims.

The present invention relates to condiment cellars such as those adaptedfor dispensing salt, pepper and the like, and commonly termed shakers.

A general object of the present invention is to provide condimentcellars which are of unusually simple construction, readily produced inan economical manner in mass production, and easily filled and closed,the structure being particularly adapted to secure closure to avoidspillage of contents and, when desired, to display labels or advertisingmaterial from within an outer wall.

A more specific object of the present invention is to provide a certaindouble-walled cellar structure wherein both the interior of an innerwall and a space between that inner wall and an outer concentric wallare simultaneously closed by a simple bottom plate construction,provision also being made for the use of a closing cap easily appliedand removed so as at will to close the out let perforations to avoidspillage.

Another object of the present invention is to provide such a cellarconstruction in a very simple double-walled design so that between thewalls display labels may be housed and closed off simultaneously withclosure of the condiment storage space.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in partappear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction,combination of elements and arrangement of parts, which will beexemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth, and the scope ofthe invention will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention,reference should be had to the following detailed description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective side view of an embodiment of the condimentcellar of the present invention with the closure cap mounted in closingposition;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing the cap removed for openingof the discharge perforations;

Fig. 3 is an exploded perspective view, with parts broken away and insection, of the structure shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged longitudinal section taken substantially on line44 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is a transverse section taken substantial- 1y on line 55 of Fig.4.

Referring to the drawing, in which like numerals identify similar partsthroughout, it will be seen that the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention comprises a substantially cylindrical container IE3 havingconcentricallyarranged, laterally-spaced outer and inner side walls IIand I2 merged together at their top edges to form a shoulder iii. Asubstantially cylindrical neck Id, preferably of a diameter about equalto that of inner wall l2, extends outward from shoulder 13 co-axiallywith respect to the concentrically-arranged side walls. The top end l5of neck M has seated thereon and affixed thereto a closing transverseplate It, with the latter provided with a plurality of dischargeapertures I'd-l1.

Condiment storage chamber It provided by the space interior of innerwall I2 is closed oir" at the bottom by means of a bottom plate It. Thebottom plate I?! preferably has in its upper face 28 a pair ofconcentrically-arranged grooves 2| and 22, with the inner groove 2|frictionally receiving the bottom edge of inner wall l2, and the outergroove 22 frictionally receiving the bottom edge of outer wall H. Inorder to assure secure closure by the bottom plate [9 with assurancethat accidental dislodgment thereof is avoided, while eliminatingnecessity and expense of securing the bottom plate to the wall structureby additional means of manipulations, such as the employment ofinterfitting threads, and the like, the bottom edge of the outer wall IIis preferably provided with an external head 23 which will distort outerflange 24 formed in the formation of the outer concentric groove 22.This distortion of flange 24 by the bead 23 in the mounting of the loweredge of outer wall II in the outer concentric groove 22 is permitted byvirtue of elasticity or flexibility of the materials from which theparts are preferably made.

Preferably, the parts of the container Ifl are formed of flexible,semi-rigid or elastic materials, such as certain types of elastomers orflexible plastics, e. g., polyethylenes, more fully identified anddescribed in the McAlevy, et al. Patent No. 2,388,169 of October 30,1945. Such materials readily lend themselves to molding operations bywhich the container walls of the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention are preferably produced, and, further, such materials permitthe walls to be either substantially transparent or slightlytranslucent, as is preferred for a purpose to be hereinafter indicated,and allow the bottom plate and closing cap structure to be madecontrastingly opaqued and/or colored for enhancing the appearance of thepackage.

A cupped slip top cover cap structure 25 is provided to seat down overthe neck 16 for closing off the discharge aperture IT. The closing cap25 preferably is provided with a lifting lip 26 to permit its readyremoval. Cap 25, as previously suggested, is preferably also formed ofelastic plastic material so as to assure secure frictional mountationthereof upon the neck to avoid possibility of ready dislodgement andspillage of contents, while permitting ready removal for shakerdischarge. Frictional fits of bottom plate 19 and cap 25 assuresexcellent protection of cellar contents from atmospheric conditions.

As previously indicated, the two concentric walls II and I2 providetherebetween a circular space 21 in which may be disposed a strip 28 ofsheet material bearing indicia, such as labels and the like, foridentification, display or advertising purposes. By nature of theconstruction of the bottom plate 19 and its cooperative engagement ofthe bottomedges of the outer and inner walls H and I2, the interiorstorage space 13 and that circular label space 21 are simultaneouslyclosed off and segregated from each other so that the label will beprotected from atmospheric conditions; from contents of the storagespace within the cellar; and from danger of being torn, smeared, stainedor scufied, as is the case with labels mounted on exterior walls.

The use and operation of the condiment cellar of the present inventionis obvious, and it will be noted that the units thereof can readily beformed, by simple molding and assembly operations Whilepermitting readyfilling on automatic filling machines prior to frictional fitting of thebottom plate I!) to the bottom edges of the walls 1 I and I2.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those madeapparent from the preceding description, are efiiciently attained and,since certain changes may be made in the above construction anddifferent embodiments of the invention could be made without departingfrom the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in theabove description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall beinterpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended tocover all of the generic and specific features of the invention hereindescribed, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as amatter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

1. A condiment cellar comprising, in combination, a substantiallycylindrical, double-walled structure having a pair ofconcentricallyarranged, spaced-apart walls merged together at one end toprovide a shoulder with the space interior of the inner wall beingadapted to serve as a condiment storage space and the space providedbetween said walls being substantially circular and of substantiallyuniform width, a substantially cylindrical neck extending outwardly fromsaid shoulder and arranged substantially coaxial with said concentricwalls with the interior thereof forming a continuation of the interiorof said inner wall, a perforated transverse Wall closing off the outerend of said neck, and a bottom plate having a pair of concentric seatinggrooves in the top face thereof with one adapted to receive andfrictionally hold the bottom edge of the said inner wall and the otheradapted to receive and frictionally hold the bottom edge of the saidouter wall to close off both the storage space within the inner wall andthe circular space between the two concentric walls when the top face ofsaid bottom plate is snapped onto the bottom edges of said inner andouter walls.

2. The condiment cellar as defined in' claim 1 characterized by theprovision of a thickening of the bottom edge of the outer wall so as toassure a more secure frictional fit thereof within its seating groove inthe bottom plate.

3. The condiment cellar structure as defines in claim 1 characterized bythe formation of all the parts of said container from flexible plasticmaterial.

IRVING WARREN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 277,695 Ellis May 15, 1883441,802 Mennen Dec. 2, 1890 528,631 Green -Nov. 6, 1894 854,792 BartlettMay 23, 1907 1,073,983 Harrison Sept. 23, 1913 1,515,513 Moriarty Nov.11, 1924 1,842,309 Borro Jan. 19, 1932 1,989,714 Statham Feb. 5, 19352,000,419 Sarber May 7, 1935 2,358,723 McFarland Sept. 19, 19442,388,169 McAlevy et a1 Oct. 30, 1945 2,548,706 Corning Apr. 10, 1951

